A Time of Darkness, for Egypt - Exodus 1

Exodus 1, A Time of Great Darkness

It had started out so well...

At the end of Genesis, we see that Israel's children escape certain starvation through Joseph, who although sold into Egypt as a slave, according to God's plan had risen to a position of great influence and power, and had wisely saved not only himself and his family, but all of Egypt.

Exodus begins with a recap of who among the children of Israel had made the journey, and tells us that those mentioned, that whole generation, lived the rest of their lives in Egypt and had all passed away, leaving their descendants to thrive and multiply in Egypt. 

I'm sure to those children of Israel who had traveled to Egypt, it seemed that the future of their descendants was secure.  They were in Egypt, fed, and taken care of.  They had been given the entire land of Goshen as their own.  Their family was well acquainted with, and friends to, the family of Pharaoh himself.  When that generation passed away, they probably did so without worry for their children and grandchildren, they were leaving them well taken care of and set for the future.

An adversary rises up, out of fear...

In verse 8-10 we read, "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

The people of Israel had not done anything wrong, they were not acting as enemies of the Egyptians.  Their ancestor Joseph had in fact, saved Egypt from ruin and famine. Yet this new Pharaoh didn't know their ancestor Joseph, he looked around his land and saw a people, larger in number than the native Egyptians.  A people with different customs, different beliefs, a different language.  A people with a different God.  A people who wouldn't have believed, as the Egyptians did, that Pharaoh himself was a god, or in the other gods of Egypt such as the sun god, the god of the Nile, or even the god of fertility, who took the form a frog.

Statue of Heqat, the Frog Goddess,
about 2950 BC, Predynastic Period,
 Late Naqada III Period to early Dynasty 1,
 travertine - Cleveland Museum of Art

Seeing a people so different from his own people, the pharaoh feared, he feared that these people who had never threatened him in any way, would continue to grow and take over his country, and at some point would turn on him and his people.  He was motivated and controlled by one of humankind's strongest emotions... fear.

The preemptive strike...

In the grip of his irrational fear he did what people with irrational fear often do, he struck out at them first, before they had a chance to strike out at him.  He took a preemptive strike. He set taskmasters over the people of Israel "to afflict them". He made life extremely hard for them, put them in bondage, made slaves of them.

While their ancestor Joseph had risen from a position of slavery into a position of power and influence, his descendants now fell rapidly from a position of security and safety into a position of slavery and hardship. It probably seemed to them as if the were spiraling into a abyss of darkness, but it is doubtful that even they knew just how dark it would become.

Total blackout...

As things grew darker for the people of Israel, God continued to bless them. They grew stronger, their numbers grew larger, in fact it seemed to Pharaoh, that the more he afflicted these people, the more they multiplied and grew... and with their growth, the power of Pharaoh's fear grew as well.  This fear prompted him to take a terrible course of action.

This Pharaoh hardened his own heart against all that was decent, and ordered the Egyptian midwives to murder the Hebrew sons at birth. We'll read later about how God hardened the next Pharaoh's heart, but make no mistake, that Pharaoh hardened his own heart first as well. How do we know this? We know this because he continued in the decrees that this one started.  He hardened it to the point of murdering helpless newborn babies. He hardened his own heart against the cries of the babies and the wails of mothers' lamenting their little boys. Later, God would finish the hardening of his heart, but only after Pharaoh had made the choice to reject all that was decent and good, only after Pharaoh had ignored his own conscience until finally, God let it be seared and stopped speaking to Pharaoh through it. The book of Romans speaks of this kind of hardening, of how as man repeatedly suppresses the truth of God and ignores the wisdom freely offered to them, God eventually turns them over to a debased mind, basically telling them that since they choose over and over not to know God, He will allow them to continue not knowing Him, and will seal and finalize the deal of their hard, rebellious hearts.

While this order of the king seemed like a total blackout of hope for God's people, God had a plan in the works to free them.  The real shadow was in the heart of Pharaoh, because he chose not to know God or be thankful toward Him, Pharaoh's foolish heart was darkened to the point of total blackout.  Meanwhile, God's deliverance of his people was at hand.

Point of Action

God speaks to everyone in their conscience, even those who don't actually know Him still hear from Him in general terms of right and wrong.  It is a frightening thing when one continues to ignore this voice. Dear reader, do not harden your heart against God.  He loves you.  If you are already a believer, He will speak to you about what he wants you to do in your walk with Him, heed Him do not harden your heart.  If you do not yet know Him, He is speaking to you that He wants you to welcome Him into your life, He is reaching out to you, calling to you.  All you need to do is respond, ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you, tell Him that He is welcome in your life.  Don't harden your heart like Pharaoh did, because it is short trip from the choice to harden your own heart to the point of total blackout, where you won't hear Him anymore.

Don't harden your heart against the love of Christ, revealed in His word.

Be sure to check back Saturday February 4th for the next post.

Leading And Following

 ¹ The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; ⁴ and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.   

⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for   


      “ God resists the proud,

      But gives grace to the humble.”

 ⁶ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

(1 Peter 5:1-7, New King James Version)

When it comes to authority, most of us find ourselves somewhere in the middle, with some people in authority over us and others below us in the chain of command.  For example, a man is head of his home, but is under the authority of the church, the government, and of course God.  The wife is under the leadership of the husband, but is in authority over the children, and even the child may find themselves given temporary authority over younger children.  So all of us, men, women, and children need not only to learn to have a HEART OF SUBMISSION, but we also need to learn how to lead others in a humble way that honors God.

The first group of people Peter addresses are the elders of the church, but principles of leadership he gives to them can apply to any position of authority.  They are to shepherd those under them.  A shepherd cares for his sheep and always tries to do what is best for them,  putting aside his own wants to do what will most help them survive and thrive.  So the elders, along with others in authority, are called not to lord over those they shepherd, but rather to serve humbly by setting an example.

Extending this principle to others in authority, husbands should not "lord over" their wives and children and try to "lead the home with an iron fist", but rather should shepherd their families, instruct them and guide them with gentleness and humility, and be a living example of godliness.  Mothers should likewise be doing so with their children, and teach their children to act in the same manner if they find themselves in authority.  God will be the rewarder of those who live in this way.

We also should give deference to the one in authority over us.  We should ALL willingly submit to each other with a humble heart, knowing that ultimately it is God we submit to, and knowing that it will be God who will lift us up.

Often, it is difficult to submit to authority because we fear losing something we want to keep, and it can also be difficult to take up authority because we fear losing the hearts of those we are responsible for.  However, we can cast those cares upon Jesus, anything we are concerned with we can give to Him, knowing that He loves us and wants what is best for us.

  Lord, help me today to lead when I am called to and to follow when I am supposed to.  Help me to lead in gentleness and humility, and to seek Your will above all else.

Always Be Ready

 ⁸ Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; ⁹ not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For

      “ He who would love life
      And see good days,
       Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
      And his lips from speaking deceit.
       ¹¹ Let him turn away from evil and do good;
       Let him seek peace and pursue it.
       ¹² For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
       And His ears are open to their prayers;
      But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”   

¹³ And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” ¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶ having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:8-17, New King James Version)

Love should be the primary factor in our relationships to one another, this will show itself in the big ways like having compassion, but perhaps even more so in the small everyday things.  Things like being courteous, showing manners, making that phone call if you're not going to be able to do what said you would do, or opening the door for the person who has their full. While small, "common courtesy" type of things, these very things are what is so easy to overlook, and are things that in today's world are becoming far from common.  We need to practice these little, everyday things, not just because we were taught to, but because we are seeking to glorify God and shine His light.

We also should not be seeking to "get back at" others, but always to try to bless. The principle of doing good and blessing those around us is found throughout scripture, Old Testament and New.

If we live this way, always treating others with respect and courtesy, and always seeking to bless others, it is much less likely that anyone will hate us and try to hurt us, however if it does happen we at least have the blessing of a clear conscience, the knowledge that we are suffering for righteousness and not for our own sin.  This will give us great hope through the trial of mistreatment, and will prompt questions from those around us.  Questions such as how we continue to love those who treat us so badly, and how we endure such mistreatment with patience, and how we continue to have hope even in situations that seem hopeless.

Of course the reason for our hope is Jesus Christ and the fact that He died for us and purchased our salvation, and that He promises not only life eternal and abundant, but even promises additional reward for those who suffer for His name. Often I hear this verse (vs. 15) interpreted that we should study the Bible intently so we are ready to to give an answer, of course that is true, but in the context of this verse I think it is more about having a clean conscience and a good witness, so that we are ready to share whenever asked.  If we live as God calls us to, we will always be ready to share this, never feeling that we need to hold back because our actions condemn us as hypocrites.  Instead, with a clean conscience we can share Christ, knowing that we have lived out our faith. 

Praise God for His awesome gift of salvation.  May we do all we can to share this gift with others.

Praise you Lord that You have given me the gift of salvation and a true and living hope in You.  Help me to live today in such a way that I will always be ready to share the reason for my hope.